Coke and the American Academy of Family Practitioners Form Strategic Alliance

Recently, Coke and the AAFP formed an alliance which would allow Coca-Cola Co. to “educate consumers about the role their products can play in a healthy, active lifestyle”. Huh? Coke has products that could be included in a healthy active lifestyle? Would a company sponsor such a thing that would tell it’s consumers that their products were, in fact, bad for you? Well, for the 6 figures Coke paid to the AAFP for this, I doubt if their is going to be a condemnation of their products on the AAFP information. I can see it now, “4 out 5 doctors recommend Diet Coke as part of an active, healthy lifestyle”. Next we will have Omega-3 Coke.

I believe this sends a mixed message to consumers that are already having severe health challenges associated with poor diet. Coke is not a company that represents improvements in health in any way. They are protecting their bottom line here, trying to associate themselves with a health organization, while benefiting from the buzz marketing that such a controversial alliance will bring.  Many others agree with this line of thinking and have written a letter condemning the AAFP for allowing the sponsorship.  This group of 22 prominent health and nutrition experts wrote:

“Because of the kinds of products it markets, Coca-Cola Co. is desperate to burnish its soiled reputation…which is why it is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a relationship with your organization…We urge the AAFP to regain its credibility by rejecting the deal with Coca-Cola.”

Executive vice president of the AAFP Douglas Henley was quoted as saying:

“Our alliance with The Coca-Cola Company gives the AAFP the opportunity to provide consumers with fact-based information on beverages and how to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle via FamilyDoctor.org…The AAFP and The Coca-Cola Company share a commitment to inform consumers, as well as medical professionals, about best practices for good health. And we will move forward with this commitment together by providing educational materials on sweeteners and how to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle while still enjoying many of the foods and beverages consumers love.”

What we need most right now is change, in order to achieve better health as a community. This is a suggestion that we can achieve better health while still enjoying the foods and beverages that we have come to love. What? How does that work? I wish someone would clue me in as to how we can have better health without eliminating these products from our diets. Doing the same things while expecting different results is insanity. It’s time to put a stop to the insanity.

Whatever their recommendations are, if you are truly seeking better health to compliment an active lifestyle, stop drinking sodas or any other drinks that are tainted with chemicals that hasten the disease process. If you are thirsty drink water.

Please, write in and tell us what you think.

Why Should I Take An Organic Whole Food Multi-vitamin?

In my last post, I talked about the Mega Multi 100, the multi-vitamin that we carry at Santa Rosa Strength, and I received many responses. In this post, I hope to encourage all of you to begin to explore the possibility of taking a multivitamin, as part of your overall commitment to excellent health. So lets start with why we feel that everyone should take a multivitamin.
Consider the following questions:

• Do you have all of the energy you need to enjoy life to the fullest?
• Do you want to protect yourself from the environmental pollution that surrounds us?
• Are you under stress from today’s fast paced environment?
• Are you concerned about protecting your future health and well being?

• Are you experiencing ill health from diabetes, heart disease, cancer, or sarcopenia (muscle loss)?

If your answer is yes to any of the following questions, then you could benefit from taking a whole food multi-vitamin supplement. If you pay attention to the news, or listen to your peers discuss health challenges, it is more apparent than ever that we are not getting the proper nutrition in order to protect us from disease, and the evidence is in the dramatic rise in diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Since disease prevention is directly linked to nutrition, it is more important than ever to begin adopting the healthy lifestyle practices that will enable us to live longer, healthier lives. Processed foods laden with fats, sugars, salts, and devoid of other essential nutrients, along with foods tainted with pesticides, fungicides, sulfites, and preservatives, have put us all at risk of acquiring these deadly diseases. While many environmental influences are beyond our control, nature has provided us with the most powerful protection from disease ever discovered; antioxidants! These potent vitamin and minerals actually attack illness at the cellular level. The function of antioxidants is quite complex, but we will delve into this subject a little bit, for the purposes of our own understanding.

A Paradox In Metabolism

Much of complex life on Earth requires oxygen for it’s existence, yet the consumption of oxygen for these processes produces reactive oxygen species (ROS). We have heard of these most commonly referred to as free radicals, which is one type of (ROS). Included are oxygen ions and peroxides, both organic and inorganic. ROS form during normal metabolic processes and play an important role in cell signaling, but during times of environmental stress (UV or heat exposure, environmental toxins, physical activity, chemical ingestion) ROS levels rise dramatically, and can cause significant damage to cellular structures. This occurrence, known as oxidative stress, is involved in many diseases such as sarcopenia, atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Type II Diabetes, Heart Failure, Myocardial Infarction, and chronic fatigue. Thanks to the perfection of nature, antioxidants protect us from oxidative stress by regulating and removing ROS’s from the body.

Not Why, But How?

By now I hope you are asking yourself what the best way to get antioxidants into the body is, and are forming a plan to accomplish this. If you are still unconvinced, please refer to the original questions and consider that it is a known fact that we all will test positive for BPA exposure, a toxic chemical, in amounts that have been shown to have adverse effects in many studies performed around the world.

How to get antioxidants into the body is relatively simple, yet is a subject that causes much debate. The number one way to get antioxidants into the body is (drum roll please)….

Food – Yes my friends, the best way to get antioxidants is from the place where they were discovered in the first place. But, and this is a big one, what kind of food? A recent trip to the Natural Foods Expo in Anaheim, CA revealed thousands of processed foods all claiming to have some type of healthy ingredient added to it. Lets look at the VitaMuffin brand BlueBran Vita Top product as an example. They were handing out samples of the Vita Top product, so we decided to check it out. The company tag line is what first caught my attention: VitaMuffin… better than an apple. A cursory check of the ingredients list brings out some glaring things that lead me to believe that this is NOT better than an apple. The first is natural flavor.

According to the US Code of Federal Regulations, a natural flavor or flavoring is:

…the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.

What?…..

Secondly, and more to the point are the vitamins and minerals that are listed, touted as “better than an apple”. In a side to side comparison of these, the muffin has more of the amount of vitamins that are added to the muffin, but fewer vitamins and minerals that are actually in an apple, and the company fails to mention this. Plus, the vitamins added are likely all synthetic or isolated.

Synthetic vitamins do not perform the same functions in your body as vitamins found naturally in whole food

and…

Anyone who studies biochemistry learns that vitamins do not exist as single components that act on their own. Vitamins are made up of several different components – enzymes, co-enzymes, and co-factors– that must work together to produce their intended biologic effects.

This is called synergy, and is important concept when discussing antioxidants. We will learn more about this later, but it suffices to say that the ingredients outside of the apple have lost their synergy. So, is it better to eat the apple or the product marketed as “better than an apple”? Eat the apple…

Also eat beans and legumes, dark leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. If you can afford to eat organic, do so, for then you will also avoid all the pesticides and fungicides found in raw foods.

Eat as many raw and cooked vegetables as you can, but stop eating processed foods.

Whats the second most effective way to get antioxidants into your body?

Whole Food Multi-vitamin - Since synthetic and isolated vitamins have no synergy, your body will not benefit from taking them. Synthetic and isolated vitamins and minerals act like a drug in the body, and no one has ever studied these type of drug interactions, so there is no evidence that suggests anyone should ever take a synthetic or isolated vitamin or mineral. Now I know this is contrary to what the massive marketing campaign waged on the American public would have you believe, but it is true. Taking these chemicals might actually be causing disease, but it is most certainly not helping your body heal. But what about a whole food? We do know that proper nutrition protects the body against disease, for it is the reason nature has provided it for us. If you wish to protect yourself from chemical interaction, you must avoid chemicals. The only way to do this, and get an extra layer of protection from taking a multi-vitamin, is to take a multi-vitamin that has absolutely no chemicals in it; a whole food, organic multi-vitamin.

Lastly, and the least effective way to get antioxidants into the body?

Drinks - There are some antioxidants found in coffee, black and green teas, and red wine. Much press has been given, recently, to the health benefits that may be experienced by drinking things such as these. Although it is true that antioxidants can be found in these, the levels of antioxidants are insignificant. Take red wine for example. In red wine there is something called resveratrol. A google search turns up all kinds of press and products concerning this antioxidant, yet there never has been a study that has determined it’s true effectiveness in life extension. It’s all marketing hype! Also, the levels of resveratrol found in red wine varies greatly, depending on grape variety, it’s geographic region, exposure to fungal infection, and fermentation time. Resveratrol can be found in the skins and seeds of many berries as well, such as blueberries and cranberries. Red wine is good, but if you want to experience the benefits of resveratrol,  it’s better to eat the grape!

The path towards nutritional excellence and good health is fraught with many pitfalls. The world we live in is very complicated and we have so many things to consider when it comes to our health. But if you want to experience the amazing health benefits of antioxidants, the choice is pretty clear. Eat as many organic vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, as reasonably possible. Also, take a whole food, certified organic multivitamin as a supplement to the nutrients that you might be missing. And skip the Vitamuffin.

Mega Multi 100 Whole Food USDA 100% Certified Organic Multivitamin Is In!

For those you who don’t already know this, Santa Rosa Strength and Wellness has a new product in stock that we think you should try. Mega Multi 100 is the only whole food multivitamin available with the 100% Organic USDA  certification and is completely excipient and chemical free. Why is this important and why would we go to such great lengths to carry this product, you might ask?

Excipients are substances that are used in the manufacture of a product which are known to have adverse health effects. They are used most commonly as:

Antiadherents

Antiadherents are used to reduce the adhesion between the powder (granules) and the punch faces and thus prevent sticking to tablet punches.

Binders

Binders hold the ingredients in a tablet together.

Coatings

Tablet coatings protect tablet ingredients from deterioration by moisture in the air and make large or unpleasant-tasting tablets easier to swallow.

Disintegrants

Disintegrants expand and dissolve when wet causing the tablet to break apart in the digestive tract, releasing the active ingredients for absorption. Disintegrant types include:

• Water uptake facilitators
• Tablet rupture promoters

Fillers and diluents

Fillers fill out the size of a tablet or capsule, making it practical to produce and convenient for the consumer to use. By increasing the bulk volume, the fillers make it possible for the final product to have the proper volume for patient handling.

Flavours

Flavours can be used to mask unpleasant tasting active ingredients and improve the likelihood that the patient will complete a course of medication. Flavourings may be natural (e.g. fruit extract) or artificial.

Colours

Colours are added to improve the appearance of a formulation.

Glidants

Glidants are used to promote powder flow by reducing interparticle friction and cohesion. These are used in combination with lubricants as they have no ability to reduce die wall friction. Examples include colloidal silicon dioxide, talc, and etc.

Lubricants

Lubricants prevent ingredients from clumping together and from sticking to the tablet punches or capsule filling machine. Lubricants also ensure that tablet formation and ejection can occur with low friction between the solid and die wall.

These chemicals, which are known to cause adverse reactions in the body, have actually been approved for use under GRAS status by the FDA. This has been a source of alarm to thousands of health professionals around the world yet has failed to sway the typical American consumer. We feel that one should take all the steps possible to avoid eating chemicals, as they are very likely a major contributor to disease.

Very recently there has been some press on studies pointing to the dangers of taking vitamin supplements. Make no mistake, we at Santa Rosa Strength believe that taking synthetic vitamins is just as bad as taking any other chemical or drug. It is for this reason that we spent 2 years researching and sourcing the only multivitamin we could find that not only was chemical free, but also has reached a level of organic certification currently unmatched by any other multi. Mega Multi 100 is not the only multivitamin; just the best.

If you are currently taking a multivitamin, please try Mega Multi 100 which is available at Santa Rosa Strength. You don’t have to eat chemicals if you don’t want to. If you are experiencing ill health and feel that taking a multivitamin is right for you, you won’t find a better one anywhere.

If you are not sure if your multivitamin has any chemicals or synthetic vitamins in it, bring in your bottle and we will help decipher the confusing and often misleading labeling.

Now Offering Cardio Metabolic Conditioning

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our new stationary bicycle, manufactured by CycleOps, and are now offering for the first time at Santa Rosa Strength, sessions based on the Tabata protocol. The Tabata protocol was created by Dr. Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan.

The session consists a period of relaxation to determine resting heart rate, followed by a warm up period on the bike. Once the body is ready to go, we guide you through intervals that last 20 seconds followed by 10 second rest periods. After 8 cycles you are finished. The benefits of training this way are improved body fat loss, improved recovery heart rate, and improved cardiovascular efficiency.

Ask one of our staff to book your appointment today and take advantage of this highly effective protocol!

Just Say No To The Flu Shot

I know this is a bold and contradictory statement if you have just read the latest article on flu shots in the media today. Here is a different view, and we seriously want you to consider this.

DANGER LURKING IN FLU SHOTS!

It wasn’t until I went to my local grocery store (name withheld) recently that I realized how low pharmaceutical companies would stoop to propagandize the public with lies. While I was at the checkout counter a young woman bagging my groceries looked at me, smiled, and said: Have you had the flu shot yet. I was stunned.

I looked at her and asked: Is your store management instructing you to ask everyone this? She said no but employees were encouraged to ask customers if they were interested in receiving the shot. I looked at this young woman with pity in my eyes and said: There’s no way I would put that poison into my body.

With curiosity about why someone would make such a bold statement, we engaged in conversation and I spent the next ten minutes giving her an earful. I asked her if she had any information on the shot and she graciously went over to the front desk to get a flyer outlining the reasons for getting the shot along with the store locations and times I could get it.

In big bold letters across the top of the flyer were the words: TAKE YOUR SHOT! In addition to the flu shot, they were also promoting pneumonia shots and tetanus/diphtheria shots. It was then and there that I realized I had to speak out against this insanity. According to the flyer, the flu is now a DISEASE. Can you imagine this? A disease implies something that needs medical intervention. I guess a cold, cough, headache, upset stomach or diarrhea could all be classified as diseases too.

I remember when they first started pushing the flu shot years ago. It was originally marketed to the elderly and those with weakened immunity. Long gone are those days. There wasn’t enough money to be made (or enough people to poison) by selling to this select market. Now the shot is being promoted to everyone as some sort of flu panacea. Before you, your friends, co-workers, church members or anyone in your family are conned into taking the flu shot, here are some of the risks you need to know about.

Flu Shots Contain Toxic Agents

Did you know that the flu shot could contain anything from aluminum, formaldehyde, dangerous microorganisms, thimerosal (mercury), ethylene glycol, and other toxic adjutants? In addition to these substances, the flu vaccine is prepared from the fluids of chicken embryos inoculated with the specific type (s) of influenza virus that supposedly protects against the strains federal health officials believe are most likely to be

prevalent during the flu season. The effectiveness in preventing influenza often ranges from 30-40%. Not very encouraging considering the potential health dangers you may be opening yourself up to down the road from the toxic agents in the vaccine.

How is the human body supposed to build immunity by being exposed to neurotoxic poisons like mercury, formaldehyde, and DNA from animals? Mercury is the second most toxic material on the planet. The first is radioactive plutonium. To make thimerosal, they start with elemental mercury. Then, they hop it up 1,000 times by converting it to ethyl mercury. Then, they add aluminum to the vaccine that has a synergistic effect with the mercury, causing it to be 10,000 more toxic than elemental mercury. Mercury is used to sterilize the flu vaccine.

Consider this insanity; they tell us that it’s unsafe to touch, breathe or swallow the mercury from a broken thermometer yet it’s perfectly acceptable to inject the same poison directly into your body through the flu shot or other vaccines. In fact, you can’t even find mercury based thermometers on the market anymore. Don’t worry, Big Pharma knows what’s best for you!

Now let’s look at formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is classified as a toxic, colorless, water-soluble gas having a suffocating odor. It’s used predominantly in embalming fluid and vaccines as a disinfectant and preservative. There are no long-term safety studies that vaccine manufacturers can draw from to validate the effectiveness of the flu shot. Those that take the shot are the safety studies and only 10% of the side effects associated with vaccines are ever reported to federal agencies. In fact, a simple search on the internet will lead you to literally thousands of websites and stories that report on vaccine injuries, including the flu shot. What you find will not put you at ease if you`ve bought into this myth.

If the public were fully informed and aware of all the ingredients that went into the flu shot, there would be a mass exodus away from it. Unfortunately, your doctor won`t tell you anything about this; the news media will not report the truth about these contaminants or the risks; the CDC is a controlled front group; pharmaceutical companies have an agenda; and mass retailers pushing the shots don’t seem to care even after being warned about the potential dangers of administering vaccines.

Flu Shots Help Spread The Flu

It’s rather ironic that what the flu shot is supposed to prevent actually seems to have an opposite effect. In recent years, flu season seems to be programmed into society. When October rolls around, all of the sudden there’s a massive outbreak of the cold and flu. Is it just coincidence that this happens to coincide with the exact time that millions of people receive the flu shot? Health officials would like us to believe that this is why we should all be vaccinated.

Another deception perpetuated by the vaccine cartel is that the flu shot contains inactive or dead viruses. If these viruses were completely inactive, then the shot would never stimulate an immune response. The flu shot contains attenuated virus. In the book, The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination Is Not Immunization, Tim O’Shea, a highly recognized authority on the dangers of vaccines, sums up what attenuated really means:

Attenuated means half-killed. The infectious agent is weakened so that it is just below the threshold of being able to trigger an inflammatory response in 99% of people. By allowing the implantation of an attenuated virus or bacteria into the body, we have done something nature would never permit. We have violated the sanctity of the bloodstream. We have tricked the immune system into not mounting an all-out response to a foreign agent. If the vaccine’s microorganisms were not attenuated, the powers of the natural immune system would join together to repel and attack the invader.

The evidence suggests that those that receive the flu shot could be contagious for weeks and spread germs to the general public. Not only does the shot manipulate the immune system, it contains foreign microorganisms that can easily replicate in the body. It is ridiculous for the CDC to say that none of these germs are contagious. There are many well-respected health experts who believe that the number of people coming down with the flu would be drastically reduced if flu shots weren’t administered. One of the best ways to avoid the flu is to stay away from people who have it. This includes staying away from those who have recently received a flu shot.

Flu Shots Do Not Guarantee Immunity

Doctors and pharmaceutical companies ignore the statistics of those who get the flu shot and still get the flu. Instead, we’re bombarded with propaganda about how the shot helps prevent the flu. In 2004 for example, numerous news reports stated that the flu shots administered in 2003 were not even capable of protecting people against the influenza strains that we were around during that flu season. It’s the same every year. It’s all a big guess. Here’s a story worth noting.

In 2003, a Canadian nursing home sent out a memo that stated all employees had to take the flu shot. Those that refused would be put on a leave of absence and possibly face the loss of their job. Not believing the hype, one employee (a personal friend of this writer) stood on her principles and refused the shot while her entire staff went along with the order. Much to her amazement, everyone that took the shot came down with a bad case of the flu except for her. There are reports like this all over North America but there’s a virtual media blackout on this truth because there’s an agenda behind the promotion of the flu shot.

Trying to predict what influenza strains will be most prevalent during flu season is a crap shoot. The flu shot does not protect against all throat, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and ear infections. It does not protect you against SARS or the much hyped Bird Flu. The flu shot only gives temporary immunity at best. What we’re not told, however, is that the flu shot actually weakens the immune system in the long run. Nobody knows for sure what negative effects the mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde or other adjuvants will have on the immune system. Some of these agents are known to interfere with your DNA. How do we know that the DNA won’t miscode genetic information to the cells? And even if you don’t come down with the flu after getting a shot, your body may be much more susceptible to getting sick from other viruses and bacteria that it would normally be able to fend off. Is it all worth the risks? That’s the decision you have to make.

Natural Alternatives

There are many very effective, natural products available to help boost your immune system and keep you well during flu season without needing to inject neurotoxic poisons and contaminants into your body. Your immune system is the only thing that prevents you from being riddled with opportunistic infections and a host of other chronic illnesses. You can’t build immunity and shield the immune system with vaccines and poisonous pharmaceutical drugs. You can only modulate the immune system through natural methods.

Enhancing the immune system means you don’t just boost one or two components. There are 22 different instruments or components to the immune system including T-cells, B-cells, Natural Killer cells (NK cells), macrophages, lymphocytes, leukocytes, monocytes, interferon, gamma globulin, interleukin 1,2,3,4, and other white blood cells. All 22 components must be orchestrated simultaneously like a symphony, in order to maintain optimum immunity.

Conclusion

It is better to do nothing than to have flu shots, your immune system already must endure all the chemicals most of us ingest everyday with the cheap, processed and packaged foods most buy, the coffee drinks, the candy, the pasta, the chocolate milk, the cookies, which would be better if at least were Certified Organic, but most likely are not. So, I implore you, think twice before being tricked into taking a flu shot, before you surrender your immune system to whoever yells, FLU SHOT. Stop all of this and get your health back and get your health back by at least consuming Certified Organic, Whole Food, Unheated, Bio-available nutrients found only at www.Natures-Supplements.com and also join www.NaturalHealthCoverage.com to replace your current expensive Health Insurance.

Daryn Peterson, Ph.D., HMD.

Natural Chef Services

Lacey Elledge

Santa Rosa Strength is proud to introduce Natural Chef Services, our new sponsor of the SR Strength Nutrition page. Lacey Elledge is a graduate of Bauman College Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts, and prepares some of the best locally grown, organic foods, for you in your home. Treat yourself to the pleasure of having most of your weekly food prepared for you – with delicious, heart-healthy, gourmet organic meals. Or get a head start on making those nutritional changes that will lead to a long healthy life.

Lacey is passionate about whole foods cooking, living responsibly and supporting sustainability. Lacey is a member of the United States Personal Chef Association, Sonoma County Culinary Guild, Slow Food, U.S.A., and The Green Group (Sonoma County).

Natural Chef Services provided the food for our recent talk with Daryn Peterson, Ph.D., and the results were incredible. For those who wish to have the best foods from Sonoma County prepared in the comfort of their homes, give Natural Chef Services a try.

“Every one of your meals is a sensory experience! Eating healthy has never been this easy or delicious.”

Barbara Stafford, Santa Rosa

“Natural Chef Services is a wonderful way for people to take care of themselves. I highly recommend it.”

Julie Halpern, Certified Nutrition Consultant

Flexitarian diet is highlighted in NewsWeek

In the Health section of NewsWeek this morning is an article on the Flexitarian diet style that is rapidly becoming more popular among those individuals who are concerned with maintaining their health. Flexitarian is a word coined to describe the eating habits of people who most of the time eat a healthy, plant-based diet, and occasionally eat foods that are less than healthy.

Here at Santa Rosa Strength we follow a plant based diet and recommend it to those who are concerned with wellness. We support our clients’ efforts with a program called the “The 6 Steps to a Plant Based Diet“. This is an excellent program and can be easily integrated into a busy lifestyle. For some people though, a 100% plant based diet is too strict, and for them we suggest a more relaxed approach; Flexitarianism.

Take a look around and you will see many people walking around today that are suffering from obesity. Hidden among those individuals however, are a growing number of people trying to manage a condition, children as well as adults, called Type II Diabetes. We are looking at the tip of the iceberg however. In the U.S. today, we now have over 50% of the population experiencing some type of ill health. This is a potential health disaster unless we correct the course we are on as a culture.

Many of the health issues that people are trying manage today are diet related. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is one of the poorest examples of our contribution to the world, yet the world is following us down this disease ridden path. If you are reading this, take a moment and ask yourself this question.

“What makes me think that my experience with the SAD diet will be any different with those who have developed disease from it?”

If you continue to do the same things, you will experience the same results. This is a fundamental law. Now I know that everyone has a great aunt that has lived to be 97, who has eaten meat and potatoes everyday of her life, smokes like a chimney, and the only veggies she eats are found at the bottom of her Martini glass. “She just knows how to live”, you might say. “She laughs and smiles all the time, and has a great outlook on life” You are right of course. Your great aunt has some insight to life that we can learn from, and it plays a big part on how we age, called attitude. But, pay attention here, she is not the rule! She is what we would call an exception! People who live with no regard to their long term health, experience results called disease. This is the rule!

If one wishes to experience the potential of excellent health for the entirety of their life, there are many things to consider and diet is only one part. It is a major part, however, and we should not waste any more of our time eating the junky foods that are being passed off as healthy choices any longer. Stop eating processed foods whenever possible. Stop eating and drinking chemicals whenever possible.

The following is a list of things a person can do to follow in the footsteps of those individuals around the world who have lived healthy beyond 100 years of age.

• Eat a Plant Based Diet – Studies on centenarians have shown that consuming a plant based diet will contribute to a long healthy lifestyle. There are cultures of people in the world who do not experience heart disease, cancer, diabetes, sarcopenia, osteoporosis, macular degeneration, or any of the age related loss of function that plagues our culture.
• Strength Train – Do some form of Progressive Resistance Exercise, regularly, for the entirety of your life.
• Recreate – Take the time to enjoy the things that you love.
• Change your attitude – In some of the centenarian cultures that have been studied, the elderly are revered, and they often compliment each other on how old they look. When is the last time you thanked the person who told you, “You are looking very old today Mr. or Mrs. So and So. Are you 100 yet?”
• Love Your Family and Your Community – Strong family and community ties have been shown to be a major contributor to longevity.
• Manage Stress – Many of the oldest cultures of the world are focused on a lifestyle, free from the things that normally cause us stress. Get a massage, play music, or engage in amorous behavior with a loved one.
• Find Yourself – A strong, deeply rooted, sense of ones inner strengths (and weaknesses) will contribute towards ones self confidence and healthy lifestyle. In our culture there are many, many avenues for inner exploration.

It is our wish, here at Santa Rosa Strength, that our community can come together, work together, and help our loved ones learn the principles of living healthy to 100.

Muscles Matter – American Medical News article advises physicians to recommend strength training for their patients

In a recent edition of American Medical News, an article titled Muscles Matter focuses on the need for resistance training beginning at the age of 40. In the article, Jeff Williamson, MD, clinical director of the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at Wake Forest University School on Medicine is quoted as saying,

“I like to say there are really only two reasons why older people end up in a nursing home. One is that their brains stop working, and the other is that their muscles stop working. Especially their leg muscles. While the loss of skeletal muscle inevitably comes with aging, no one should just sit still and take it. In fact, sitting still would be the worst thing. People in their 40’s and 50’s need to take prompt action to preserve what strength they still have.”

For years experts in the exercise field have been telling people that they need to exercise, but their has never been a clear message as to what to focus on. Should one walk, swim, bike, or do yoga? The message is becoming more clear, however, as the medical journals begin to provide enough information to physicians, so they may be encouraged to play a greater role in persuading their patients to strength train.

“Just being in the hospital for a few days can dramatically affect muscle mass, ” Dr. Williamson said. “So physicians, in addition to thinking ‘I’ve successfully treated this persons heart failure or pneumonia’ need to be thinking, ‘How can I help restore their muscle mass and function?’ “

In the past much of the challenge has been in determining when a person was actually experiencing this muscle loss, called sarcopenia, but W. Jack Rejeski, PhD, a behavioral scientist at Wake Forest, is quoted in the article as saying,

“Difficulty climbing stairs can be the first sign of functional decline. We’ve shown in our research that such problems are one of the first signs of early disability.”

Sarcopenia has been written about and studied for years but the action needed to do something about it has been lagging behind the volumes of information. It is estimated that only 21% of all men and 17.5% of all women in the United States engage in some type of strength training today. Something needs to be done to change this, and physicians are the ones who can have the greatest effect on their patients exercise habits.

“Assessing a patients physical functioning should be part of an office visit,” Rejeski said in the article. “One way to conduct an assessment of lower extremity function is by the Short Physical Performance Battery. It’s a very simple test, but it has been shown in large studies to be predictive of decline in function.”

It’s not only the decline in physical ability that becomes evident with sarcopenia, however, and their have been 100’s of studies to determine the role of muscle loss with diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, as well as complications from stroke, and chronic neck and back pain. A recent search for sarcopenia on PubMed.gov revealed 675 articles on many different subjects. A visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website will reveal the question, posed on the site, why strength train?

The answers to this question are numerous:

• A group of older men and women completed a 16 week strength training program focused on reducing arthritis pain. Their pain was reduced by 43% and demonstrated that resistance exercise was just as effective, if not more so, than medications, based on CDC findings.
• The CDC reports that lean body mass decreases 15% between the ages of 30 to 60
• In a 16 week study of Hispanic men and women with type II diabetes, improved glucose control was demonstrated, which was comparable the results produced by medication.
• The CDC reports that resistance exercise improves balance and flexibility, as well as improves bone density.

The advise of the of the AMA and the CDC is based on information that has become abundantly clear. Everyone, including those who have elite level athletic prowess, will lose muscle as they age. If one wishes to avoid the severe maladies and loss of function associated with sarcopenia, one must strength train. It is now imperative for physicians to monitor functional strength loss, and prescribe resistance exercise.

At Santa Rosa Strength, we specialize in the clinical application of progressive resistance exercise (PRE), and for years have helped our clients manage: sarcopenia, osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, complications from stroke, chronic low back pain, Parkinson’s, obesity, and forms of arthritis. With 1 weekly PRE session, proper nutritional guidance, recreational activities, stress management, and organic, whole food supplementation, individuals have been guided to success time and time again. If you are reading this, and need to make a change in your life, please call, e-mail, or just drop by. We will provide whatever is necessary for you to take control of your health!

FDA suggests the chemical BPA in our food is OK.

Today in the headlines of CNN, the FDA is trying to calm the nerves of the American public by suggesting that low level exposure to the chemical BPA (Bisphenol A) is OK. In spite of a rather large study, suggesting a link from chemical exposure to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the FDA still maintains that BPA is safe. As if to support their position, the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, said the study is flawed, has substantial limitations and proves nothing. Can you say conflict of interest? Of course they are going to say this. What many people believe is that the exposure to BPA can be limited by eliminating the act of drinking from those lovely Nalgene water bottles. What they might be unaware of is that BPA is one of the world’s highest production–volume chemicals, with more than 2 million metric tons produced worldwide in 2003 and annual increase in demand of 6% to 10% annually. Bisphenol A is used extensively in epoxy resins lining food and beverage containers and as a monomer in polycarbonate plastics in many consumer products. Widespread and continuous exposure to BPA, primarily through food but also through drinking water, dental sealants, dermal exposure, and inhalation of household dusts, is evident from the presence of detectable levels of BPA in more than 90% of the US population. Still not alarmed?

In parts of the world there are large identifiable concentrations of BPA and other chemical compounds being found in tributaries, which is a reason to show some concern. It is possible that exposure to chemical pollutants is far more reaching and more dire in consequences than the news is reporting?

In the Netherlands a study on pregnant women showed an alarming level of these pollutants, from which they suggested more study needed to be done. In the laboratory, BPA has been shown to be cytotoxic. Could it be that this is a bad thing for a developing fetus?

A study at the Yale University School of Medicine was performed on primates which should register some alarm. This study was the first to demonstrate an adverse effect of BPA on the brain in a nonhuman primate model and further amplifies concern about the widespread use of BPA in medical equipment, food preparation, and storage.

The United States is not the only country concerned with this topic. There have been studies from around the world all demonstrating some type of concern with the exposure to this chemical, and yet our own FDA suggests that, again, it’s no big deal. It is a big deal, and we need to be aware of this and do something about it. Through 2004, there have been over 100 articles in scientific literature that have explored the effects of BPA at or below the dose the FDA considers safe. 90% of those reported adverse from their findings.

We, as a community, need to take part in ridding ourselves of these harmful chemicals as best we can. Start with avoiding the use of plastics when at all possible. Eat as little processed or canned foods as you can. Detox your body by eating organic, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes and beans, nuts and seeds. Start cooking with spices known to have healing properties like turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, and many others. Strength train and recreate responsibly. Avoid stress and take a whole food vitamin supplement instead of a chemical one.

There is much work to be done if we are to reverse 100 years of chemical influence. Start with pointing others to sources of information that may be of some help. Teach our children to avoid the dangers of products that cause health challenges. Change will happen.

Take The Mega Multi 100 Vitamin Challenge

Reprinted with permission from natures-supplements.com

THE BIG VITAMIN SCAM

I believe we each have to do our part and stand up and speak the truth. That’s what I’m trying to do here. I’m telling everyone I meet and everyone I know, “You’ve been conned. You’ve been scammed by the system, by a bunch of manufacturers, a whole lot of big business and a good dose of government corruption thrown in to protect the system and make sure you never find out what is going on. You’ve been scammed.

The only way to beat the scam is to get outside the system – get outside of conventional medicine, give up all these processed foods and move over to a healthy lifestyle where you actually have cognitive function and where you have mental awareness because you’re eating well. You’re eating real food, not that processed, manufactured garbage that passes for food in most peoples’ homes in the United States and everywhere around the world.

So if you have a friend or a family member who doesn’t know about this, and you’d like to either help them or annoy them (your pick), tell them what’s really in their vitamins. Show them: Pick up that vitamin bottle out of their cabinet, refrigerator, purse or wherever they happen to have it and point out that carcinogen, that preservative, that filler, yellow dye or whatever it happens to be in that particular vitamin. Point it out to them; show them the hydrogenated oils in these vitamins. Point out the sucrose, the corn syrup, propylene glycol, Silica, Magnesium Stearate, which will be listed under the “Other Ingredients” section right below the Nutritional Facts panel…..all those disease causing chemicals are right there. Show them what they’re really consuming and then give them a better choice. Introduce them to an online Organic store that can provide him or her with superior cellular nutrition, completely Certified Organic. Encourage them to go here if they really want to take care of their health.

It’s funny that people complain about how much money it costs to buy nutritional supplements. Then, they go out and spend a few dollars on vitamins that will actually make them sick. They think they’re getting a bargain. I say that you might as well spend your money on cigarettes, you know? You might as well eat some fried chicken. If you’re going to spend $6 on a bottle of vitamins that are bad for you, then skip the whole thing and just go eat some hamburgers at the local fast food restaurant or some cookies from the grocery store. Of course, I don’t recommend that anyone do any of that. I recommend you spend your money wisely on nutritional supplements, from a passionate, honest company like Nature’s Supplements, which is the pioneer in Cellular Nutrition utilizing only 100% Certified Organic, Whole Food, Unheated supplements. You’ll end up saving thousands upon thousands of dollars NOT buying cheap, junky vitamins that would not only hurt you, as proven by the Journal of the American Medical Association, but waste your money, too.

Of course, if you’re going through the trouble of taking vitamins, shouldn’t you put the best you can find into your body? Don’t you deserve healthy supplements, that are superior, chemical-free supplements, rather than supplements packaged with hydrogenated oils and other poisons that are legalized by our system of corrupt government and private industry? Shouldn’t you deserve the very best? Don’t you deserve to be healthy? We at Nature’s Supplements think so.

With all of the new information concerning the adverse effects of exposure to chemicals in our food, drinks, supplements, and medicines, Santa Rosa Strength would like to invite all of our community to take our vitamin challenge. Bring in one of your vitamin supplements so we can compare it to Mega Multi 100, and if we discover chemicals in your vitamin, we will give you $5.00 towards the only 100% USDA Certified Organic Whole Food Multivitamin in the country; Mega Multi 100.